Over the past ten years, the bandwidth capacity available to consumers for receiving content from the Internet and other networks has increased ten-fold and more. The increased bandwidth capacity has enabled consumers to download larger and larger files and other content, including rich media and multimedia content such as video clips, songs and movies. This increased bandwidth capacity has increased Internet usage and the potential for enjoyable and productive usage.
Despite the increased bandwidth capacity, however, prior to the present invention, there were no consumer-based broadband services that automate the delivery of rich media and multimedia content directly to the consumer's personal computer (PC) or Internet access device. Prior to the present invention, there were no service providers optimizing the use of a broadband connection by distributing multiple channels of rich media content and providing a mechanism to automate the selective tuning to desired material. Prior to the present invention, there were no mechanisms available to support Internet protocol (“IP”) recording and hence the time-shifted viewing of rich media material broadcast to the consumers PC or Internet access device.
Likewise, there has been an increase in the efforts of companies to gather information about consumers and to target consumers with advertising. Despite this effort, however, prior to the present invention there was no user interface that incorporates a profiling engine in offering personalized access to available material. Indeed, prior to the present invention, there was no personalized offering of rich media material to consumer PCs and Internet access devices. Further, companies gathering information about consumers seek to utilize that information remotely from the consumer PC or Internet access device, therefore raising privacy concerns. Moreover, prior to the present invention there were user interfaces are available that support downloading rich media content and provide utilities for the ongoing management of local disk resources that store or cache the rich media content.
For the broadcaster or source of content, advertising, and e-commerce opportunities to a consumer PC or Internet access device, prior to the present invention there was no way to combine multiple threads of targeted advertising with the delivery of broadband video, without the expensive pre-broadcast process of authoring of video content. Authoring of video content is a frame-by-frame, labor-intensive process of associating advertising into video content by inserting “triggers” in the video stream itself. Likewise, prior to the present invention, there was no way to support multiple concurrent channels of IP-based video within a system that allows individual clients to dynamically link to channels of a specific interest. Moreover, prior to the present invention, there was no easy, integrated way to implement pay-per-view (“PPV”) and subscription in the distribution of broadcast video content. Further, the broadcaster, prior to the present invention, has no way to receive real-time statistics on system usage, including targeted advertising impressions and click-throughs.